This paper reviews the progress made in understanding the mechanical behaviour of the biliary system. Gallstones and diseases of the biliary tract affect more than 10% of the adult population. The complications of gallstones, i.e. acute pancreatitis and obstructive jandice, can be lethal, and patients with acalculous gallbladder pain often pose diagnostic difficulties and undergo repeated ultra...

AIM To analyse the expression of heat shock protein (HSP) 60 in biliary epithelium in auto-immune liver conditions and also in chronic cholestatic and other liver diseases. METHODS Hepatic expression of HSP-60 in frozen liver biopsy specimens from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), auto-immune hepatitis (AIH), obstructive jaundice (LDO), alcoh...

Secondary obstructive cholangiopathy is characterized by intra- or extrahepatic bile tract obstruction. Liver inflammation and structural alterations develop due to progressive bile stagnation. Most frequent etiologies are biliary atresia in children, and hepatolithiasis, postcholecystectomy bile duct injury, and biliary primary cirrhosis in adults, which causes chronic biliary cholangitis. Bil...

BACKGROUND Current biochemical indicators cannot discriminate between parenchymal, biliary, vascular, and neoplastic hepatobiliary diseases. MicroRNAs are promising new biomarkers for hepatobiliary disease in humans and dogs. OBJECTIVE To measure serum concentrations of an established group of microRNAs in dogs and to investigate their concentrations in various types of hepatobiliary diseases...

To determine whether portal lymphadenopathy in primary biliary cirrhosis is caused by deposition of lipofuscin pigment in sinus histiocytes and to compare primary biliary cirrhosis with other liver diseases a retrospective study on a consecutive series of 169 livers obtained at transplantation was carried out. There were grouped into eight diagnostic categories: primary biliary cirrhosis (n = 5...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of biliary tract disease in patients with acute non-A-E hepatitis. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Infectious diseases unit, government hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Sixty-one consecutive patients, admitted with the diagnosis of acute hepatitis and negative hepatitis serology for hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E virus. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Abdominal ultra...

Despite decades of basic research, biliary diseases remain prevalent, highly morbid, and notoriously difficult to treat. We have, however, dramatically increased our understanding of biliary developmental biology, cholangiocyte pathophysiology, and the endogenous mechanisms of biliary regeneration and repair. All of this complex and rapidly evolving knowledge coincides with an explosion of new ...

Introduction: Early diagnosis of biliary atresia is very important for better outcome of treatment. Ultrasonography is one of the diagnostic tools for early differentiation of  biliary atresia from other causes of neonatal cholestasis. It has been reported that triangular cord sign  (TACS) in sonography is a reliable sign for diagnosis of biliary atresia. The aim of this study was to re-assess ...

Objectives. We determined the serum bile acid (BA) composition in patients with liver diseases and healthy volunteers to investigate the relationship between the etiologies of liver disease and BA metabolism. Material and Methods. Sera from 150 patients with liver diseases and 46 healthy volunteers were obtained. The serum concentrations of the 16 different BAs were determined according to the ...